Bus No 2500 hits the road

By Kelly Yates
DANDENONG has celebrated the delivery of its 2500th Volgren bus.
MP John Pandazopoulos and the new owner of the bus attended the official ceremony last Thursday at Volgren’s head office in Dandenong.
Volgren’s managing director Peter Dale said the celebration recognised the wonderful achievements of the skilled team.
He said building the 2500th bus was a milestone for the company.
“It was something very special and the atmosphere was great,” he said.
The first bus built by Volgren was also on display during the celebration.
“The 30-year-old bus is kept in Volgren’s small Dandenong museum and is still in pristine condition,” Mr Dale said.
The new owner of the 2500th bus, Comfort Delgro Cabcharge, recently placed the largest bus order ever placed in Australia by a private operator.
“We are now building buses in Victoria for Sydney; this shows how far Volgren has come,” he said.
Volgren is Australia’s largest bus builder, employing more than 280 people in Dandenong.
The company is the manufacturing division of Grenda Corporation, a third generation family business in Dandenong that has been providing public transport for more than 60 years.
The company has manufacturing facilities in Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane and has overseas manufacturers in Malaysia and Singapore.
In 2006 the company was inducted into Victoria’s manufacturing hall of fame.